Duel Academy's school festival began amid laughter and cheer, right after Youmi's high-profile victory over Slade Princeton.
Obelisk Blue hosted a high-end Western restaurant, Ra Yellow sold takoyaki.
And Slifer Red stuck to the classic—Cosplay Duels.
This time, however, Youmi proposed an improved format: all participants would wear Duel Monsters cosplay outfits and use Decks constructed around the corresponding cards as their core.
In other words, if Alexis wanted to use a Cyber Angel Deck, then at the very least she would have to cosplay as one of the Cyber Angels.
The reason everyone said Youmi was cheating was because all he had to do was change clothes, and he could cosplay as Fallen of Albaz.
"Today's main duel is Alexis's anyway, so for me, there's no need to go through all that trouble, right?"
To rein in Youmi's blatantly cheating behavior, everyone agreed that during this school festival he would not be allowed to use a Deck that included Fallen of Albaz unless he cosplayed as another card from the Deck.
As a result, Fleurdelis had been polishing the Knighted armor together with Chamber Dragonmaid since last night.
Sitting on the sofa with his legs hugged to his chest, Youmi wore a helpless expression. "I mean… even if it's armor, that's still your equipment, Fleurdelis. Is it really appropriate for me to wear it?"
Fleurdelis glanced at Youmi while continuing to polish the armor. "Do you have a problem with me, or do you have a problem with the armor?"
"If I had to say… it's kind of both—Ah, no, no, no, how would I dare have a problem with you, haha."
Sensing killing intent, Youmi turned his head toward the window.
In front of the Slifer Red dorm, with Kitt's help, everyone had already finished setting up an arena. "Oh? What Jaden's wearing is… Elemental HERO Absolute Zero. As expected of the true ace."
Ecclesia's head popped out from the side. "Actually, you could wear my armor too, you know? Sister's build is a bit too tall. Can Youmi's Albaz-like physique even fit into it?"
After finishing her work, Fleurdelis wiped her sweat. "It's a divine artifact, after all. It has adaptive functions. Look at how Proskenion turned out—his sword, armor, and shield still fit him just fine. Oh, do you want to take this chance to polish your Kuriboh Sphere as well?"
The moment Fleurdelis looked over, Kuriboh Sphere immediately hid behind Youmi.
"Looks like he's not particularly willing…"
Downstairs, for the sake of convenience during the duel, Alexis decided to cosplay as Cyber Angel Benten while dueling.
"Oh so my opponent is Alexis? Not bad at all. Let my newly built Elemental HERO Deck have a match with you"
Wearing the Elemental HERO Absolute Zero outfit, Jaden presented his Deck.
Alexis also took out her Cyber Angel Deck. "Eh? After your duel with Chazz, did you further refine your build?"
"Yeah. That day, thinking about dueling Chazz, I don't know why, but my blood just started boiling.
"Then a few new Fusion Monsters appeared in my Deck along with light. I didn't include all of them—some I put into the Deck I'm using today."
Jaden glanced at his Fusion Deck and nodded. "Card Spirits really are amazing."
"Ever since I encountered Winged Kuriboh, Shadow Games, and things like that, it feels like I can hear the Heroes' voices more clearly… huh?"
Jaden froze for a moment, then laughed. "I feel like when I was really little, I'd heard similar voices before… what card was it, I wonder?"
"It was probably your childhood Deck, right?"
Jaden nodded. "It feels like a very important card. If I get a chance to go home later, it's definitely one I'll need to bring back… but why am I only remembering this now… well~ for now, let's focus on the duel in front of us."
Alexis nodded lightly in response and presented her Deck. "Then let me show you my new Cyber Angels as well, Jaden."
At the very bottom of the Deck was a card—Cyber Angel Izana.
"DUEL!" ×2
TURN.1
The system assigned the first turn to Jaden.
"Oh, my turn, huh. I draw~"
Jaden temporarily set aside the thoughts troubling him. After drawing a card, he activated a signature Spell.
"I activate Polymerization from my hand! The materials are an Elemental HERO monster plus a DARK monster. I fuse the Elemental HERO Necroshade and Necro Gardna from my hand to Fusion Summon a dark and mysterious Hero—Elemental HERO Escuridao!"
The two DARK monsters fused into one, yet what appeared was a brand-new female Hero.
Alexis covered her mouth with one hand, a little surprised. "Eh? So you have women cards in your Deck too, Jaden."
"She looks kind of fierce, though. And two men monsters suddenly turning into… yeah, it still feels a bit strange."
Jaden, however, didn't react much. "For Heroes, gender doesn't matter at all. As long as it's a Hero, I'm happy to take them all~"
Amused by Jaden's response, Alexis laughed. "That really does sound like something you'd say, Jaden."
click.
The sound of a camera shutter rang out. Wholly wrapped in a red eggshell-like suit of some unknown material, Atticus—cosplaying as Black Dragon's Chick—snapped a photo.
Startled into jumping by the shutter sound, Alexis exclaimed, "Eh? Brother, why did you suddenly scare me like that? What are you taking photos for?"
Atticus waved his hand and hid back inside the eggshell. "Well, just think of it as rewarding the members of the Alexis Fan Club You two go on dueling, don't mind me"
"I'll deal with you later for this. Let's continue the duel for now, Jaden."
Alexis's pretty face flushed, but with so many people around, she didn't say much more.
"So Alexis's brother is like this? That's really unexpected…"
Jaden scratched his head. "Anyway, I Normal Summon the Elemental HERO Bladedge from my hand. Since Elemental HERO Necroshade is in the Graveyard, once per turn I can Normal Summon a Level 5 or higher Elemental HERO monster from my hand without Tributing. Then—"
Jaden activated a Continuous Spell on the field.
"I activate the Continuous Spell Mirage of Nightmare. That way, during my next Standby Phase, I draw until I have four cards in hand, then discard the same number during my Standby Phase. I Set one card, then end my turn."
With his hand all emptied and his 'classic (as in, anyone can do it)' combo executed, Jaden Yuki declared the end of his turn.
TURN.2
"Mirage of Nightmare? I can't believe Industrial Illusions and KaibaCorp didn't ban this card… My turn, I draw."
Alexis refilled her hand to six cards. Since she didn't draw anything that could deal with Mirage of Nightmare, she entered the Standby Phase, during which Jaden's hand was replenished to four cards.
In the following Main Phase, Alexis first activated a Continuous Spell.
"I activate the Continuous Spell Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen from my hand. If it resolves, I'll use its effect~"
"I can Special Summon a Fairy monster from my hand, but this effect can only be activated and resolved if I control no monsters."
"I Special Summon the Choju of the Trillion Hands from my hand, then activate its effect to search one Ritual Monster and one Ritual Spell from my Deck."
An angel with many omen-bearing arms appeared on the field. Alexis revealed Cyber Angel Benten and Machine Angel Ritual from her Deck and added them to her hand.
"Then I activate Pre-Preparation of Rites, adding Primal Cry and Vennu, Bright Bird of Divinity from my Deck to my hand."
Looking at the two 'angels' appearing one after another, Jaden remarked, "Wow, there really are all kinds of weird angels, huh…"
"Hey, I didn't even say Vennu was a Fairy, and you already knew?"
Alexis had clearly displayed Vennu, Bright Bird of Divinity behind Primal Cry, so Jaden shouldn't have been able to see it. "Had you seen this card before? This is the first time I've ever put it in my Deck…"
"No, it was just intuition."
"I've wanted to say this for a long time… Jaden, your intuition in dueling is honestly terrifying…"
"Thanks for the compliment."
Alexis smiled and shook her head, then activated a Ritual Spell.
"I activate the Ritual Spell Primal Cry. I Tribute monsters from my hand and/or field whose total Levels equal 8 or more, then Ritual Summon Vennu, Bright Bird of Divinity from my hand. The material I Tribute is Cyber Angel Izana."
A radiant divine bird with splendid feathers and robes appeared on Alexis's field, folding its wings.
"Then I Normal Summon Cyber Petit Angel. You know its effect—I add Cyber Angel Idaten from my Deck to my hand."
After rapidly stockpiling a large number of Ritual Monsters and Ritual Spells in her hand, Alexis began the process of converting resources.
"Now I activate Machine Angel Ritual. I Tribute monsters from my hand and/or field until their total Levels meet the requirement for a Ritual Summon, then Ritual Summon a Cyber Angel monster from my hand."
"I Tribute Cyber Angel Benten from my hand to Ritual Summon Cyber Angel Idaten!"
Amid suddenly rising sacred flames, the 1600-ATK Idaten charged forth.
"The effects of Idaten, Benten, and Vennu, Bright Bird of Divinity activate in sequence. Vennu's effect—once per turn, when a monster in my hand or on my field other than this card is Tributed, I can target one monster in my Graveyard and add it to my hand."
"I choose Cyber Angel Izana in my Graveyard. Benten's effect in the Graveyard lets me search a second Cyber Angel Benten from my Deck, and Idaten's effect on the field lets me search Machine Angel Ritual from my Deck."
Even though she had used up three cards from her hand, it was immediately refilled. Alexis gave the Deck a light cut, then continued her Ritual Summoning.
"Next, I activate Machine Angel Ritual again!"
"Wait—right now, I flip my face-down card, Edge Hammer! I Tribute Elemental HERO Bladedge and target Cyber Angel Idaten, destroying it and inflicting damage to you equal to its Attack!"
Elemental HERO Bladedge suddenly picked up a golden hammer and slammed it directly into Idaten's face, the two monsters perishing together in the furious counterblow.
"What—!"
[Alexis, LP: 4000 → 2400]
Jaden grinned smugly. "If I let you Tribute Idaten and boost your Attack, I'd be in real trouble over here~"
Cyber Angel Izana's Attack is only 2500, but it has the effect of gaining additional attacks when it destroys an opponent's monster by battle. If Idaten had been Tributed to raise its Attack, Alexis could have taken the duel immediately.
"Tch, wait, something's not right. Jaden, if your face-down isn't Mystical Space Typhoon or Emergency Provisions, then if you don't draw something next turn or if you didn't just draw it… you'll have to take Mirage of Nightmare's downside, won't you?"
"That kind of hardship is exactly what a man's guts are for overcoming~"
"Please don't try to overcome probability theory with guts…"
"I Tribute Cyber Angel Benten from my hand and Cyber Petit Angel on the field to Ritual Summon Cyber Angel Izana from my hand. I activate Benten's effect to search a Cyber Petit Angel. I do not activate Idaten's effect."
When Cyber Angel Izana is Ritual Summoned, its effect makes the opponent choose one Spell or Trap they control and send it to the Graveyard. Obviously, Alexis couldn't voluntarily send the opponent's Mirage to the Graveyard.
Earlier, not using Vennu to recover Benten and then using Benten to search Idaten had truly been a misplay.
Even so, Alexis still had Vennu with 2800 Attack, Cyber Angel Izana with 2500 Attack, and Choju of the Trillion Hands with 1400 Attack on the field—enough to wipe out Jaden's Life Points.
"Vennu, Bright Bird of Divinity with 2800 Attack attacks Elemental HERO Escuridao. That monster has an effect that increases its Attack based on the number of Elemental HERO monsters in the Graveyard, right? There are only two right now, so it's just 2700. I'll destroy it like this~"
"You're not getting that through. I activate Necro Gardna's effect in the Graveyard. I banish this card from the Graveyard, and this turn, one attack by an opponent's monster becomes invalid~ I negate Vennu, Bright Bird of Divinity's attack!"
On the path of Vennu's attack, Necro Gardna—now a spectral apparition—suddenly appeared and blocked it.
"So that's how it is?"
"Then Main Phase 2. I Set one card and end my turn. During the End Phase, I banish Primal Cry from my Graveyard to activate its effect, targeting one Ritual Monster in my Graveyard that was sent there from the field this turn. I Special Summon Cyber Angel Idaten from my Graveyard."
...
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